While hell broke loose in Group A today and Evil Geniuses became the first team to qualify for The International 2022 main event, Group B had a relatively quiet day. Unlike its sister group, the race for the top spot is still on and everything below could change drastically depending on the final day of matches tomorrow.
Heading into TI11, Tundra Esports emerged as one of the best Dota 2 teams in Europe and were aiming to maintain that excellent form in an explosive start to TI11. However, the team needed some more time to catch up and find an opportunity to really shine against some of the best teams in the world.
Starting with a string of draws was not ideal, but Tundra turned things around after a slow start with several big wins yesterday and a sweep of the defending TI champions today.
Team Spirit came into Day 3 looking to turn around their slow start, but Tundra was not the easy prey the TI10 winners were hoping for.
Team Spirit was completely incapacitated by Tundra, but dragged the two games past 30 minutes thanks to a few spells focused on team fights that made Tundra play as carefully as possible despite their gigantic advantages. In the end, Spirit’s lineup lacked the damage needed to stop Tundra’s unstoppable stampede.
Tundra also split games with Thunder Awaken, who are battling for the top spot in TI11 despite one of their players being hospitalized. Farith “Matthew” Puente underwent multiple tests before the third day began due to a stomach infection, but returned in time to play.
Tundra was not the only WEU team to improve its standings. Team Secret continued their solid run in the group stage on Day 3 with an early draw against Spirit, before heading into a highly anticipated showdown against Entity.
Throughout last season’s CPD, Entity beat Secret on multiple occasions, even snatching a Major spot from Puppey’s vanguard and eliminating them from the WEU regional qualifiers. Considering the power levels of both teams, most fans expected an evenly matched series. But Secret was on another level and looking to avenge their previous defeats.
Crystallis and Zayac were out of control in the first game, notching 22 kills to Secret’s 30 total. Secret kept the high tempo up all over the map, pushing Entity’s backs against the wall that was their Ancient. Despite small glimpses of hope, Entity failed to score decisive kills on Secret’s cores and retired in the 32nd minute.
Entity came into the second game with a fairly similar blueprint, handing them an even more crushing defeat. Crystallis delighted the fans with a brilliant performance from Lifestealer. The position one player landed 10 kills and Secret overcame one of the fastest teams in the game.
With this sweep, Secret hopes to challenge both Team Aster, who had a poor performance on day three against Fnatic and TA, and Tundra for the top spot in Group B heading into the fourth and final day of groups. Meanwhile, Spirit and beastcoast will face off in a series that could put one of them dangerously close to elimination from TI11.The International is the most important Dota 2 tournament of the year, and if you are interested in Dota 2 betting, make sure to check out our site where we have plenty of offers available for you!
